A blog about Marinwood-Lucas Valley and the Marin Housing Element, politics, economics and social policy. The MOST DANGEROUS BLOG in Marinwood-Lucas Valley.

Friday, September 30, 2016

Judy Arnold's idea for "Sustainabile" Travel in 2009.

County of Marin hired a consultant to study these Unimodal Levitating trains in 2009

Editor's note: Someone should tell Ms. Arnold that we already have individualized transit that doesn't require billions in infrastructure. They are called "cars". A hybrid getting 51 mpg like the Prius leaves a far smaller "carbon footprint" than this idea.From Marin IJ: Supervisors Revive Monorail Idea by Nels Johnson

Although the prospect of commuters
rocketing over Marin in space-age pods may be a little out there, county
officials are interested in a high-speed monorail transit system.

Marin County supervisors said a pilot project could bring SkyTran, a
futuristic high-speed monorail still under development, to Marin as a key public
transit link complementing the SMART rail project approved by voters last year.

The program, boosted by Supervisors Judy Arnold and Charles McGlashan, could
connect the Civic Center with the SMART rail system, or be set up at other
sites.

The project "could be a first step to a countywide system enhancing bus and
ferry service, as well as the SMART rail system," Arnold and McGlashan said in a
letter to colleagues. Last year, Arnold boosted the SkyTran program as an
alternative to SMART.

The electric SkyTran system involves two- or three-person "pods" capable of
traveling non-stop at 150 mph between cities. The vehicles do not have drivers,
but use computers, sensors and radar collision systems to navigate. Unimodal
Transport Solutions of Westlake Village, a firm founded in 2003 to develop the
transit system, says it is 10 times less expensive than light rail.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a "letter of interest" to
Unimodal that can be used to attract private financing for a project in Marin.
Santa Cruz and San Jose have each requested a formal plan from Unimodal for
larger-scale projects.

"We recognize that this is only a first step in this process and that many discussions and public meetings will
need to follow to determine the feasibility of this project, to identify a
location for the pilot, and to analyze environmental impacts," Arnold and
McGlashan said.

The two supervisors said Marin is in a good position to win state transit
grants to help finance the project. Both state Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco,
and Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, support the move.

"In the past year SkyTran has progressed from the design phase into building
and testing physical prototypes, and has also identified partners for project
management and private financing," Arnold reported. "Pods are being produced in
Southern California for assembly at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain
View and a financing partner, IERS, is interested in funding a demonstration
project that is up and running as soon as possible."

The board dispatched a letter to Unimodal, saying the county could provide
right-of-way for a pilot project, help obtain permits and open the door for
state grants.

A Marin project would "provide connectivity with existing and future transit
to demonstrate the efficacy and convenience of this innovative technology," the
county letter to Unimodal says, adding the system "would eventually integrate
more comprehensively with other transit options countywide to serve commercial,
retail, residential, government and entertainment centers."

Christopher Perkins, CEO of Unimodal, on Wednesday applauded the move,
saying, "Marin County's leadership in bringing green transportation solutions to
the region is a key to future economic prosperity and quality of life."

Perkins said that although Unimodal's vehicles can zip along at high speeds,
"our technology would be deployed appropriately in Marin County, moving at the
speed you would expect cars to travel."

Fares of 15 to 25 cents per mile would cover costs of the firm's "personal
rapid transit system that has high speed, low cost and low maintenance
characteristics," he said, adding the first pod will be assembled in March.

"By doing this on county property we can put in a showcase," Perkins said of
a Marin project.

County supervisors traded quips as they unanimously dispatched a letter of
interest to Perkins.

"I think it's great you have cast yourselves along with the Jetsons,"
Supervisor Steve Kinsey told colleagues Arnold and McGlashan.

"Is this one of the times I can't roll my eyes?" asked Supervisor Hal Brown.

About SaveMarinwood.org

Our community is what we make it. Marinwood-Lucas Valley is on the eve of a fateful decision by the Marin County Board of Supervisors to designate our community with 71% of all affordable housing in unincorporated Marin. If built to plan it will swell our community by 25% and add 600-1000 school children to the Dixie School District. Since affordable housing developments pay virtually no taxes, the community will have to pay for the $6 million to $10 million annually estimated to educate these children. Our total budget for the Marinwood CSD is $4.2 million dollars. Clearly it will have a severe impact on our community.

We support a fair allocation of affordable housing in our community that is sensitive to land use, is fiscally responsible, healthy for the families and integrates diversity within our community.

Unfortunately, planners, politicians and political insiders made their plans without us.